A red spire pavilion stands beside the Pinghumen pier on the Wuchang River Beach, and people can look across the Yangtze River from the pavilion.
In the past July and August, the river water could even flood to the top of the pavilion.
Today, the pavilions that are not submerged by the river make the locals feel unaccustomed.
At a distance of 500 meters from the watershed of Poyang Lake, an old fisherman's field of nearly 4 mu is experiencing drought.
On August 17, members of the Jiangxi Hukou assistance patrol team found that the hydrological marker piles at the Hukou Hydrological Station also began to leave the water surface of the Yangtze River.
At 18:00 on August 13, the water level measured at the Hankou Station of the Yangtze River was 17.55 meters, which was the lowest in the same period in history since the water level of the Wuhan section of the Yangtze River was recorded at that time.
At 12:00 on August 17, the water level of the Hankou Station of the Yangtze River was 16.68 meters. Compared with the previous days, the water level of the station continued to decrease slowly.
After the Yangtze River entered the main flood season this year, the water level continued to decline, and there was a rare phenomenon of "reverse dryness during the flood season".
Since July, the drought situation in the Yangtze River Basin has developed rapidly.
At present, 12.32 million mu of arable land is affected by drought in 6 provinces and cities including Sichuan and Chongqing, and 830,000 people have been affected by drought and water supply.
Beijing News reporter Wang Jingxi Zhang Jianlin
Tens of meters of tidal flats exposed along the Yangtze River
"When you swim, you can find that the water level is receding." Xiao Ming, who grew up on the edge of the Yangtze River, is a swimmer who often swims in the Yangtze River with his friends.
"Before the water level was high and the flow rate was high, the river water pushed you along. Now that the water level is low, just swim slowly over it." This was his most personal feeling after the water level of the Yangtze River dropped.
For Xiao Ming and other swimmers, the water level, temperature and flow of the Yangtze River are must-see information before entering the water.
"We look at the data on the Yangtze River Hydrology Network. On August 23 last year, the water level of Hankou Station was 22.96 meters, the flow rate was 33,700 cubic meters per second, and the flow rate was 1.3 meters per second. On August 16 this year, the water level was 17 meters, and the flow rate was 17,000 cubic meters per second. , with a flow velocity of 1 m/s."
In July and August of previous years, Xiao Ming often swam past the small pavilion at Pinghumen Wharf.
"The pavilions are all submerged, and can even be submerged to the top of the pavilion. But this year, not only the pavilion, but the steps under the pavilion and the stones below are all exposed."
People who grew up by the riverside have flood control awareness deeply imprinted in their minds.
Xiao Ming said that during the flood season in previous years, the local area will arrange many people to patrol the embankment on the riverside to check whether there are cracks on the embankment and whether the water will overflow the river embankment.
"If it comes out, it will be blocked with sandbags immediately, but now it is not needed at all."
As the water level dropped, the Yangtze River narrowed considerably.
Xiao Ming remembered that in the past years, the river water was rippling under the white guardrail on the shore, but now he walks through the guardrail and walks more than 50 meters along the bare tidal flat before stepping into the river.
"There seems to be no flood season this year"
The Yangtze River Basin has always been rainy, and the flood season is generally from May to October.
From May to June this year, 10 important hydrological stations in the Yangtze River Basin exceeded the warning water level, and the Yangtze River Water Conservancy Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources (referred to as the Yangtze River Commission) twice launched the level IV emergency response to flood and drought disaster prevention.
Since mid-June, the precipitation in the Yangtze River Basin has decreased because of the lack of water. On August 11, the Yangtze River Commission launched the third drought defense level IV emergency response.
The Wuhan Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters stated that the water level of the Yangtze River continued to decline after entering the main flood season this year, and there was a rare phenomenon of "reverse dryness during the flood season".
This is because the rainfall in the Yangtze River Basin is significantly less, the inflow of water from the upper reaches is reduced, and the continuous high temperature leads to an increase in evaporation.
At 16:00 on August 15 last year, the water level at Hankou Station on the Yangtze River was 23.11 meters.
At 18:00 on August 13 this year, the water level measured at the Hankou Station of the Yangtze River was 17.55 meters, which was the lowest in the same period in history since the water level of the Wuhan section of the Yangtze River was recorded at that time.
Since then, the Hankou Station of the Yangtze River has continued to break the record for the lowest water level in the same period since 1954.
Not only Hankou, but also the Yichang Hydrological Station, located under the Three Gorges Dam, has less water flow than before.
"In the flood season in 2020, the inflow water flow of the Yichang River section reached 50,000 cubic meters per second, but there seems to be no flood season this year, and the water flow rate of 30,000 cubic meters per second is only a few days, and the current water flow is estimated to be 13,000 cubic meters per second." An insider told the Beijing News that since last week, the water level in the Yichang River section has been a bit like the water level in dry months.
The changes of water level and water flow in Yichang are mainly affected by the inflow of water from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
Recently, due to the continuous high temperature, the riverbed of the Chongqing section of the Jialing River has been "exposed", and many shoals have appeared.
This may be the worst drought in recent years, according to the person familiar with the matter.
On August 17, according to the Ministry of Water Resources, the drought in the Yangtze River Basin caused more than 10 million mu of arable land in six provinces and cities including Sichuan and Chongqing, and 830,000 people were affected by the drought.
On August 16, the Yangtze River Commission issued a dispatch order to dispatch the Three Gorges Reservoir to replenish water in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
The relevant person in charge of the Yangtze River Committee recently stated that according to estimates, from the 16th to the 21st, the Three Gorges Reservoir will be replenished through the cascade reservoirs in the lower reaches of the Jinsha River, and the reservoirs in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River will replenish about 1 billion cubic meters of water to the middle and lower reaches.
Villagers worry about cutting production by 70%
The high temperature and drought have a great impact on the production and life of residents in the Yangtze River Basin.
"The seedlings are dry and the cotton is not harvested," said Dong Xuehua, a villager in Pingfeng Town, Hukou County, Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province.
Dong Xuehua has nearly 4 mu of fields 500 meters away from the watershed of the Poyang Lake Hukou, where rice and cotton are grown.
"At this rate, this year's harvest could be down by 70 percent."
Dong Xuehua said that last year, the weather was dry and the earth was dry. He picked up the pump at home and pumped water from Poyang Lake to irrigate the farmland across the wet tidal flat.
There is so little water these days that a pump is useless.
Zhou Junqi, who used to be the director of the Fisheries Bureau of Hukou County, said, "The water level has dropped rapidly this year. It is also obvious that water from various reservoirs used to be released to irrigate crops. Now there is no more water in the reservoirs, and droughts are being fought everywhere."
On August 10, the water level at the Hukou Station of Poyang Lake was 10.93 meters, which fell below the 11-meter water level for the first time this summer.
According to public materials, this year is the earliest year that China's largest freshwater lake, Poyang Lake, has entered a dry season since records began in 1951.
The Tongjiang water body in the lake area is 803 square kilometers, a decrease of 2097 square kilometers compared with the same period last year.
Similar to the Chongqing section of the Jialing River, there are also large swaths of exposed tidal flats around the Poyang Lake area.
On the afternoon of August 17, another member of the Jiangxi Hukou patrol team, Shu Yinan, was patrolling the lake near the Hukou Hydrological Station and found that the hydrological marker piles under the hydrological station began to gradually separate from the water surface of the Yangtze River.
Reservoirs supply water for downstream
On the afternoon of August 17, the Ministry of Water Resources announced the current drought situation in 6 provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Basin at a press conference.
The Ministry of Water Resources is dispatching reservoir groups to replenish water downstream, and plans to replenish 1.48 billion cubic meters of water to ensure the safety of drinking water for the people in the arid areas and the irrigation water for autumn crops.
Since July, the rainfall in the Yangtze River Basin has been 45% lower than the same period of the previous year; the water inflow of the Yangtze River, Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake water system has been 20% to 80% lower than the same period of the previous year; currently, the water level of the main stream of the Yangtze River, Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake is lower than the same period of the previous year. It is 4.85 meters-6.13 meters lower, the lowest since the same period since the actual measurement record.
The drought situation in the Yangtze River Basin is developing rapidly.
At present, the 6 provinces (cities) of Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and Anhui are affected by the drought with an area of 12.32 million mu, and 830,000 people and 160,000 large livestock have been affected by the drought.
"At present, the irrigation water source and urban and rural water supply in large and medium-sized irrigation areas are guaranteed, and the dry land is mainly distributed at the end of the irrigation area and the 'Wangtian Tian' without irrigation facilities; the water supply is mainly affected by small reservoirs or mountain springs and streams. Decentralized water supply project of water sources." Liu Weiping, vice minister of the Ministry of Water Resources, introduced.
Since 12:00 on August 16, the Ministry of Water Resources has dispatched the cascade reservoirs in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River with the Three Gorges Reservoir as the core, the "Four Rivers" reservoirs in Dongting Lake, Xiangziyuan, and the "Five Rivers" reservoirs in Poyang Lake, Jiangxi, Fuxin and Raoxiu. Increase the outflow flow to replenish water downstream, and plan to replenish 1.48 billion cubic meters of water.
Guide and urge relevant areas to do their best to dispatch water projects such as pumping stations and sluice gates, accurately connect irrigation areas, urban and rural water supply intakes, and divert, lift, and adjust more, so as to ensure the safety of drinking water for people in dry areas and ensure the irrigation water for autumn crops.
Since August, the water conservancy department has dispatched controlled reservoirs in the Yangtze River Basin to supply 5.3 billion cubic meters of water to the middle and lower reaches.
Liu Weiping introduced that at present, the water storage of large and medium-sized reservoirs in the Yangtze River Basin is generally good, and the water storage capacity is only 10% less than the same period last year. The small and medium-sized reservoirs in some areas are insufficient, and the water storage capacity of the drought-affected provinces (cities) is higher than that of the same period of the previous year. flat.
Atmospheric circulation anomalies are the main cause
Since July, most of the Yangtze River Basin has continued to have high temperature and little rainfall, and the drought has developed rapidly.
The "Analysis and Response Suggestions for Drought Disaster in the Yangtze River Basin in 2022" issued by the China Academy of Water Resources and Hydropower pointed out that in general, the large-scale drought in the Yangtze River Basin this year is mainly caused by abnormal atmospheric circulation.
Liu Zhiyu, deputy director of the Information Center of the Ministry of Water Resources, said that under normal circumstances, rainfall in the Yangtze River basin is mainly concentrated in the flood season from April to September.
In July and August, the upper reaches of the Yangtze River are located on the west side of the Western Pacific subtropical high, which is a rainy area; while the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are controlled by the subtropical high, which is not conducive to rainfall, and is prone to summer droughts.
Since July this year, the subtropical high pressure in the western Pacific Ocean has been larger in area and stronger in intensity, and its location is west to north. It is controlled by the downdraft of the subtropical high. The entire Yangtze River Basin has continued to have high temperatures and little rainfall. Significantly lower, there has been a rare drought situation in the same period for many years.
This is what the China Academy of Water Resources and Hydropower called "abnormal atmospheric circulation" to cause drought.
The latest monitoring results of the National Climate Center show that since July, there have been more than 20 consecutive days without effective rainfall in parts of the Yangtze River Basin.
The accumulated precipitation since August in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River Basin is even less than 1 mm.
In terms of temperature, since July, most of the high temperature days in the Yangtze River Basin have exceeded 15 days, some areas in the middle and lower reaches have exceeded 25 days, and northern Anhui, northwestern Hubei and other places have exceeded 30 days.
From July 20 to August 17, the Central Meteorological Observatory issued a high temperature warning for 28 consecutive days.
Among the provinces with the largest areas affected by high temperature, Hunan, Sichuan, Hubei and Jiangxi in the Yangtze River Basin are at the forefront.
Atmospheric circulation anomalies are produced in the context of global warming. At the same time, the "La Niña" event spans three years and is still ongoing, and atmospheric circulation is also affected by it.
Experts from the Central Meteorological Observatory have said that since the spring of this year, the "La Niña" event in the equatorial eastern Pacific has not weakened, but has intensified. Coupled with the abnormal sea temperature in the Indian Ocean, the subtropical high has continued to strengthen.
The sixth assessment report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) pointed out that global warming in the last 50 years is occurring at an unprecedented rate since the past 2,000 years, exacerbating the instability of the climate system.
"Atmospheric circulation anomalies" is one of the manifestations of the instability of the climate system, which caused the high temperature and heat wave events in my country and the world this year, and the drought in the Yangtze River Basin.
Some experts said that in the context of global warming, the frequency of extreme weather and climate events will become higher and higher.
It is predicted that the rainfall in the Yangtze River Basin may still be low in August, and the drought may continue or develop further.
In this regard, the Ministry of Water Resources said that it will continue to pay close attention to the development of drought in the Yangtze River Basin, and organize and guide relevant provinces (cities) to do their best to combat drought.
Watching the river flow over the edge of the tidal flat, Xiao Ming was a little worried: "Now that there are more and more extreme weather, I am more worried that climate change will affect our mother river for a long time."
■ Dialogue
Hydrology Bureau of the Yangtze River Committee of the Ministry of Water Resources
The low water level system causes less precipitation in the upper reaches, resulting in less inflow
On August 18, a reporter from the Beijing News interviewed the relevant person in charge of the Hydrology Bureau of the Yangtze River Water Conservancy Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources.
According to the person in charge, the monitoring data of Hankou (Wuhan Pass) station shows that taking the daily average water level on August 15 as an example, the daily average water level this year is 17.28 meters.
The data shows that in addition to this year, other years with low water levels include 18.93 meters in 2015, 19.42 meters in 1971 and 2006.
Talking about the reasons for the low water level this year, the person in charge said that the main reason is that the precipitation in the upper reaches is low, which leads to the lack of water.
In July this year, the water flow in the basin was generally less than 20%
Beijing News: Apart from this year, has Hankou (Wuhan Pass) station also had lower water levels?
Person in charge: Since the water level in Hankou (Wuhan Pass) was recorded, that is, from 1865 to 2021 (the two years of 1944 and 1945 are missing), the average value over the years is 23.81 meters, which is 6.53 meters higher than this year.
The average value of the last 30 years (1992-2021) is 23.31 meters, which is 6.03 meters higher than this year.
Although it is the lowest water level in the same period in history, it is only compared with the water level in the same period of the flood season. In fact, it is still a few meters away from the annual low water level of the station.
Beijing News: What caused the low water level in the main flood season this year?
Person in charge: Hankou (Wuhanguan) Station is a type of precision station that controls the water regime change of the main stream in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River after the Han River joins.
The reason for the low water level this year is mainly due to the lack of precipitation in the upper reaches, resulting in less inflow.
In July 2022, the total inflow of water in the basin will be less than 20%.
Specifically, the main upstream tributaries Minjiang, Jialing and Wujiang are 4-60% less inflow; the two lakes in the middle and lower reaches are both about 40% less; the Three Gorges and Danjiangkou Reservoir are more than 40% less in the same period of the year (residential The penultimate period in history), nearly 70%.
In early August, the water flow in the basin was less than 40%.
Among them, the main tributaries of the upper reaches of the Minjiang River, Jialing River and Wujiang River are 4-50% less than the water; the two lakes in the middle and lower reaches are both 5-60% less; the Three Gorges and Danjiangkou Reservoirs are more than 40% and 50% less than the same period of the year. .
According to the forecast of water conditions, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River will be dry this year
Beijing News: Before entering the main flood season, was there any sign of drought in the Yangtze River Basin?
Person in charge: According to this year's water forecast, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River are dry years.
Entering July, the water level was lower than the average water level in the same period of the last 30 years. There was a slow rise from July 4th to 8th, and then it fell rapidly.
Beijing News: During the period of low water level, what is the focus of hydrological work?
Person in charge: In response to the current flood season, the Hydrology Bureau of the Yangtze River Water Conservancy Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources strengthened the monitoring of water quality and water quantity, collected first-hand data, and provided basic data for water environment assessment and water resources dispatch.
On the other hand, conduct a comprehensive inspection of the stations and instruments to ensure the normal operation of the equipment, strengthen the rationality inspection of the water regime data, and ensure the timeliness and accuracy of flood reporting.
Beijing News reporter Wu Tingting